The Raising of the Two Brothers Totem Pole in Jasper National Park

On Saturday, July 16th, 2011 as part of Parks Day and Parks Canada Centennial Celebrations, Jasper National Park along with many Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal partners pulled together to raise the Two Brothers Totem Pole in Jasper.

It was beautiful, moving, inspirational and historic celebration- a day that brought together more than 15 different regional Aboriginal communities in a joyful celebration of their history and culture.

The celebration fused West Coast Haida culture with regional Aboriginal traditions and included two pipe ceremonies, a traditional Haida totem pole blessing and carvers dance, a totem pole transfer ceremony, a friendship ceremony, a traditional feast and a round dance. About 4500 people attended the raising, 800 enjoyed the feast and 500 participated in the round dance.

The Honourable Rob Merrifield, MP for Yellowhead and Parks Canada CEO Alan Latourelle joined in the celebrations and helped pull on the ropes to help raise the totem pole.

The finished totem pole is approximately 13.7 metres tall and is painted in traditional Haida colours of red, black and blue.

To commemorate the event, Parks Canada also published The Two Brothers - A Haida Story. The book, illustrated by carvers Jaalen and Gwaai Edenshaw, tells the Haida story behind the Two Brothers Totem Pole: a story of a journey long ago from the west coast islands of Haida Gwaii to the Rocky Mountains and of an unusual connection between two very different places. The trilingual book was published in Haida, English and French.

The traditional knowledge and experience that has been integrated in the carving of the new Haida totem pole represents the timeless values that will help present and future generations of Canadians to connect with national parks, national historic sites and national marine conservation areas.

Video

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After standing in Jasper for almost 100 years, the Raven Totem Pole was taken down and repatriated to Gwaai Hanaas, in 2011 a new pole, the Two Brothers pole was erected in Jasper to replace the Raven Pole. This film outlines the story of the pole and its significance in the connectivity between Native peoples and this land that is now a National Park.

Transcript:

(TEXT) JASPER NATIONAL PARK Shot of the Jasper Raven Totem Pole at Night looking up from the bottom

Voice: This story is about two brothers that would paddle up and down the coast

CU shot of Haida Elder smiling at the cameraThese two brothers, would always look up at the mountains and wonder what was beyond them.

CU shot of Haida Elder in traditional hat, followed by a CU of an Aboriginal youth in full regalia, a CU of an Alexis Nakota Sioux Elder, a CU of a Haida elder, a CU of a young Haida woman, an ECU of a Cree elder&rsquo;s eyes and head dress, and a CU of a very old Alexis woman.

So on one of their journeys they decided to hike in. They walked over the mountains and after that they walked for many days and the one brother said he wanted to stay. so they parted and many many years went by, and the brother on Haida Gwaai

ECU of Haida story teller telling the story of the Two Brothers

got to missing his brother a great deal

LS of Jaalen Edenshaw working on the Raven Totem pole lying on his back, followed by CU of wood chips falling to the ground

so before he got to old to make the journey he traveled back to&hellip;

ECU of Haida story teller telling the story of the Two Brothers

the place where he had last seen his brother, and when he got there, there was a dwelling there and he hollered in the door (HAIDA LANGUAGE)

MS of Gwaii Edenshaw chiseling at the Raven Totem Pole making last minute adjustments, followed by a CU of his chiseland someone answered back (HAIDA LANGUAGE) So the brother had said, "is anyone here"

ECU of Haida story teller telling the story of the Two Brothers

and someone answered him "yes, come in" in the Haida language, and it turns out that that was his neice.

MS of Gwaii Edenshaw painting the Totem Pole in a beautiful sky blue, CU of his brush, CU of a pair of hands hammering a copper cap on to the Totem Pole and another CU of Gwaii paiting

That was his brother's daughter, and that was her uncle, so she told her uncle that his brother had passed on, journeyed on to... The other place and...

ECU of the mouth of Haida Storyteller

She was what was left.

Long moving shot of the details of the Totem Pole on its side, as the camera moves past

LS of Haida Women bless the Totem Pole with fern boughs, CU of Haida woman&rsquo;s face, and MS of young Haida girl blowing eagle feathers on to the Pole

Told us a story that came to her from Hazel Stevens, It's the only story that... It's the only story that even comes close,

MS of Gwaii Edenshaw talking talking about the Two Brothers story

that I've heard, that even comes close to telling about this area.

Moving high angle shot of a hand being run along the length of the Totem Pole, CU of hands playing drums

You know, we're a sea-faring people, but those brothers in that story decided to check out what was in land.

High angle LS of parade procession being led by Aboriginal Elders, Parks Canada executives and the local Member of Parliament makes its way down the Jasper main street, MS of Haida woman singing during the procession, MS of the procession as it gets closer to the camera

And that story itself really tells of a connectivity between our land and this place far, far away and completely alien to what we know.

Over the shoulder shot of people pulling the ropes to raise the Totem Pole, Panning 360 degree view of people pulling the ropes to raise the Totem Pole

Hi &ndash; Hee!Hold it! Hold it!

Over the shoulder shot moving backwards down the line of people pulling the Totem Pole up, MS group shot of Alan Latourelle (CEO of Parks Canada) Rob Merrifield (Local Member of Parliament) and a Haida Elder pulling the rope followed by a CU of their hands pulling the rope

Tighten up on this side.

ECU of the bottom of the Totem Pole sliding in to position, LS of Totem Pole standing in its position

Hold the line!

MS of Haida dancers and drummers celebrating the raising of the pole by singing and drumming, CU of Haida woman singing and drumming under the Pole

It was powerful, it had a lot of energy and I think... something happened here.

CU of Francis Alexis talking about the Totem Pole Raising

I hope it continues, it was a good thing.

MS of very young Haida boy playing a drum under the Pole, Over the shoulder shot of Cree singers and drummers facing the Haida and their pole, singing and playing

It was really sad for me to see the old totem pole leave town, it's always been something that I personally loved, so to see it go was quite sad

ECU of Sue Cesco talking about what it means to her to have the pole back

and then to hear that another pole was coming back was very special

Haida Dancer in wooden mask opens the mouth of his bird mask to reveal a wooden human face

I'm ecstatic actually that I was a part of it and just to see it

MS of Sue Cesco looking over her shoulder at the Totem Pole and the view behind it

here on the landscape today with the view south of the valley is quite spectacular

CU of hand rubbing the skin of a drum, CU of young Aboriginal boy&rsquo;s eyes partially obscured by a drum in the foreground, CU of A boriginal elder in regalia moving rhythmically, LS of Haida dancers and drummers under the Totem Pole with the rope used to raise it in the foreground

Getting to meet the carvers was an amazing experience. Getting to spend the week with them was very cool, And getting to spend the weekend here with the different Aboriginal nations is something that I've never seen that I've never seen happen before in Jasper, and it's been a true pleasure.

MS of Sue Cesco talking about the week of the Pole raising with the Pole in the background

so I'm really proud

MS group of Aboriginal youth in full regalia smiling at the camera, CU of youngest Aboriginal boy in full regalia looking at the camera.

to be a part of this experience today and happy that this totem pole will stand here for a long time to come.

(TEXT)The Raven Totem Pole stood in Jasper for almost 100 years before it was taken down and repatriated to Gwaai Hanaas in 2009(TEXT) This pole represents the story of the two brothers who journeyed into this land from the Pacific Northwest many years ago(TEXT) The Two Brothers Pole will now stand in Jasper for many years and remind all who gaze upon it of the people who were here before the National Park(TEXT) And that regardless of where we are from(TEXT) We are all connected